WEEKEND CONDITION: From futbol to football

by Randy Hill

Updated: October 1, 2001, 11:34 AM EST

But first, this episode of the Weekend Condition will throw it in reverse to catch any trailing vapor from our really big sporting events.

Leading off, Major League Soccer.

(Editor's note: Stay put, this won't take long.)

Amen, the MLS has reached its semifinal round. Last weekend's scores were 3-2, 2-0 and 2-1 (damn that Russian judge).

Included in those results was the L.A. Galaxy's series-stopping victory over the New York-New Jersey-New Attitude MetroStarBucks. By promising to play this decisive match, 6,154 humans were convinced they should visit the Rose Bowl just to watch.

The official attendance for this MLS playoff skirmish blew away the announced media crowd of 6,151 that attended Friday's L.A. Lakers media day over in El Segundo, Calif.

Anyway, we also were treated to a weekend of dandy football.

Before we dig in, it should be pointed out that NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue admits New York may be considered as an alternative site for Super Bowl XXXVI.

The league's first choice remains New Orleans, where the National Automobile Dealers Association has first dibs on the city for Fallback Weekend (Feb. 3).

After news of New York's candidacy was leaked, one NADA representative suggested his organization is not being negotiated with in good faith.

"I think we're being used," he said.

A spokesperson for Tagliabue disagreed.

"We don't think of it as 'used'," the spokesperson said. "We look at it as pre-owned."

Did I mention football?

The two matchups alleged to be Sunday's best somehow managed to elude the Fox Network. But Madden and Summerall did pilot a solid effort between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Minnesota Vikings from the Metrodome.

The telecast included a pregame interview with wide receiver Cris "Old Yeller" Carter of the victorious Vikings.

Cris spent most of Week 2 hollering discouragement at his teammates. He spent a large portion of Week 3 catching passes from quarterback Daunte Culpepper, who completed 30 of 44 for 322 yards.

Culpepper, who also hopped into the end zone for the winning touchdown, directed an offense that crushed Tampa Bay in time of possession, 35 minutes (and change) to 22.

For the record, those 35 minutes were about a dozen minutes less than the time of scarier possession Carter demonstrated last week.

One of the two aforementioned glorious matchups featured the Miami Dolphins and St. Louis Rams from Missouri.

The Dolphins' highly regarded defense was nullified by Rams quarterback Kurt Warner, who had little pass rush to deal with in a 42-10 rout. When Kurt can pick out receivers at his leisure, we refer to this deadly operation as "Time Warner."

The other golden showdown offered the Baltimore Ravens at Denver Broncos. The Ravens, you may recall, scored fewer points than the Cincinnati Bengals on the same field last weekend.

In that game, new QB Elvis Grbac heaved 63 passes. The Ravens checked the total and said "Never more."

On Sunday, they offered a bit more balance, and the defense shut down the Broncos in a 20-13 victory.

Checking in as the big stunner was the New England Patriots' thumping of Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts. Manning had two interceptions returned for touchdowns, and -- while giving chase -- provided a chilling interpretation of Vinny Testaverde imitating Rocky Balboa attempting to catch that chicken for the first time.

The mighty Green Bay Packers improved to 3-0 by sort of rolling over the Carolina Panthers in Charlotte. The victory was made a bit more difficult to attain by the nasty caliber of the Ericsson Stadium turf.

Because Ericsson is a player in the cell phone industry, the condition of the Panthers' field should be referred to as "Fall waiting."

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